[Sponsored Report] Hanwha Life changes name and game plan

Employees of the Hanwha Life Insurance celebrate the name changing on Oct. 9 at the 63 City Building in Yeouido, western Seoul. Provided by the company

With Korea Life Insurance beginning a new chapter under the banner of Hanwha Life Insurance, all of Hanwha Group’s subsidiaries now share the moniker Hanwha. This momentous shift comes not only in the name change but also in a shift in policy toward a more client-focused approach.

The comprehensive policy shift for the newly minted Hanwha Life includes continuing what has worked in past at Korea Life.

The insurance arm of the Hanwha Group plans to expand on the proven-successful Visiting Service program that was launched in September 2007. The service program provides flexible and widespread locations catering to more than 360,000 clients.

Hanwha Life also strengthened its customer feedback program, to offer differentiated service through accuracy and speed, handling 99 percent of its tasks within three days with the aim to receive the highest marks on its customer satisfaction survey.

The company has also streamlined its insurance payment process to the screening center so the clients who have experienced sudden accidents can receive payments earlier. This centralization has made the payment process more accurate and unified.

It has also been utilizing social networking services to tap into the new consumer base of 2030 generation. Hanwha Life launched its official blog Life n Talk (www.lifentalk.com) in May, Twitter account (www.twitter.com/hanwhalife) in April of last year, as well as a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/hanwhalifetv) which started providing contents this May. The company uses these channels to better accommodate consumer input in product development.

The company is also planning to continue hosting a child-friendly event for the young customers visiting the 63 City Building, emblematic of Hanwha Life Insurance as it currently houses the corporate headquarters.

Hanwha Life looks inwardly toward its employees and the working culture to better serve the needs of its customers as it reinforces the customer-centered management philosophies. The training project dubbed Customer Service WAY was launched in August 2010 and will continue to contribute to maintaining the high level of customer care.

The central pillar of this customer-oriented training project is the CCM Consumer Centered Management. The company has various windows to receive complaints such as a call center, official Web sites and SNS to promptly and efficiently respond to every consumer need.

Its Voice of Customer system provides ways for complaints and suggestions received by clients to be accumulated and consolidated into coherent data, ultimately to be implemented into improving the systems and guidelines.

To counter the rising number of identity theft cases, the company is also working on password protection program so financial transaction can be made with little danger of private information leak.

Hanwha Life has been the object of many accolades over the years. In June, Hanwha Life Insurance was awarded, by the Korean Standards Association, the annual Korea Service Awards in the life insurance category, a third in a row. In the Korean Service Quality Index survey it was ranked No. 1 in the call center portion, another feat three in a row.

In addition, the company has been named as the best company for customer centered management chosen by the Fair Trade Commission, acknowledged as a company handling customer complaints quickly and fairly.

As it moves forward with a new face, Hanwha Life Insurance plans to implement proven policies to continue in offering excellent customer service to the clients.

By Lee Ji-hyun [concordia@joongang.co.kr]